You always knew exactly what you were going to get with The Duke Spirit, you just didn’t know when you were going to get it. Famed for incendiary live shows and with gaps of several years between each album release since 2005’s debut Cuts Across The Land, fans were used to lengthy waits for their next dose of fast-paced, hard-edged searing garage rock. Now, just over a year after the release of Kin, the London band have surprised everyone. They have not only followed up on that critically-acclaimed album in record time, but have also completed a revolutionary leap in their sound. Liela Moss has described Sky Is Mine in interviews as their most “tender” album, but tender shouldn't be mistaken for fragile or vulnerable and sonically it retains a real crunch. Lean at 35 minutes, this is a constantly rewarding and surprising piece of work.

Opening track ‘Magenta’ acts as the gateway into a dark and brooding world, an evolution rather than a revolution, from their output of previous years. With a slab of menacing bass guitar riffs throughout, balanced against Moss’ beguiling sirens call, it is noticeably slower than their previous work but retains the sheer weight and scale. As Moss plaintively sings: “Who knows where the heart goes?” there are hints of classic goth bands from the 80s in the production values and the vocal mix.

It is with following track ‘Bones of Proof’ that the first real glimpse of their new sound breaks through, with its delicious and deliberate slow build into a soaring discordant climax. Luke Ford’s guitar-playing swims in the same dark pools as Interpol throughout, especially on ‘See Power’ and the slower, more reflective mood allows each song to unfold in a melancholy yet always hopeful setting. The new, more expansive style gives a stillness and sense of space which, when combined with Moss’ crystal vocals, sets a bewitching mood. ‘Houses’ is the album highlight, with its anthemic chorus of: “We’ve come to see you/Wake up!” burning with the same sort of energy that used to power Arcade Fire, before they fell down a rabbit hole on their last album.

Throughout, there is a sense of a band shifting and challenging themselves with a freedom and purpose that often comes when an album is self-produced. ‘How Could, How Come’ has a deliciously hazy feel with Josh T. Pearson on backing vocals, while ‘YoYo’ races down a different path altogether, with a rapid driving rhythm sitting underneath a manic vocal from Moss. As the album closes on ‘Broken Dreams’, there is an overwhelming sense of poignancy with its closing words: “Hold me with your hands, hold me in your hands” softly repeating to the end. With Duke Garwood adding a suitably dreamy backing vocal, it’s the perfect way to round off an album that feels like a band reborn. Tugging on your heartstrings but not losing the ability to bite, The Duke Spirit have taken a huge leap into the exciting unknown and are all the better for it.

Jamie MacMillan